More great questions from Donna Brennan and thoughtful answers from Gayle Roper. Thank you both!
Q: Getting published can seem like an impossible dream for so many of us. Even if we’ve been published before, that doesn’t guarantee we’ll get published again. Do you have any advice for those of us just starting out or hitting a roadblock?
Getting published has always been a challenge and staying published is just as bad. With today’s economy and its effects on the publishing industry, things are definitely dicey for new writers. On one hand publishers always want new, strong talent. One the other, the slots for this new talent are very limited. Certainly writing the best story ever is crucial but not a guarantee of publication. Self-publishing and e-publishing are options, but they are no guarantee of readers. Also such books are rarely picked up by traditional publishers unless they sell huge numbers. But since true writers can’t not write, we soldier on, honing our craft and attending writers conferences like Colorado CWC where we meet and talk face to face with agents and editors and freelancers, all of whom want to help the new writer achieve her dream.
Q: How important a role should faith or Scripture play in our books? How can we add a strong faith element without sounding like a Sunday sermon?
For many of us as Christians, writing an overt faith message is one of the reasons we write. But we can never forget that every story can only contain the weight of one major spiritual truth, and it’s not always the telling of the Gospel. And that’s okay. It’s the body of a writer’s work that shows the full picture of her faith. It’s in trying to stuff in too much that doesn’t really fit this particular story that we get the sermon-y feeling that always makes our shoulders itch as we read it. My feeling is that less is usually more. Writing spiritual content happens or should happen in much the same way writing touchy topics happens—through the hearts and mouths of the characters.
Q: I’m sure you enjoy writing, or you wouldn’t have written so many fiction and nonfiction books. But does it ever seem easy? Did writing certain books hold special challenges for you?
I do not find writing easy. Getting every word down on the page is work for me. But I love rewriting. That’s the fun part. There I get to enrich my characters, beef up the plot, choose better words, add humor—all the fun parts of making a book. So I agonize through the writing so I can get to the rewriting. And there’s nothing else I want to do in spite of the blood, sweat, toil, and tears. (Told you I was reading a WW II book.)
Q: Do you remember the first story you ever sold? What encouraged you to write it? What encouraged you to submit it?
The first thing I sold was a short story based on what had happened at the junior high where I had taught. I sold it to Young Ambassador, a long defunct teen magazine, for $10. I think I wrote it as a young mom at home with a baby because I was bored and wanted something to occupy my mind. I figured I’d submit it because why write it if no one read it?
Q: More and more these days, publishers expect authors to be involved in promoting their own books. But many of us have a strong aversion to self-promotion. Do you have any advice to offer for those who struggle in this area?
Self-promotion isn’t quite the big deal for novelists it is for non-fiction writers. I suggest picking a social network you’re comfortable with and establishing yourself there. Don’t promote yourself as much as become a person. Every so often you can mention writing and writing-related things, but mention what you did today, what stupid thing you or your kids said, where you went—things like this. Also look at your life and find a couple of things that are interesting, something that may not even be related to your novel, things an interviewer might find interesting (they tend to think novelists are bad interviews because they can’t talk about anything but the book—so not true). For example I’ve used my kids’ adoption and my one son’s meeting with his biological family. I also suggest that you come up with ten questions (and answers) about your book that a host could use to conduct an interview. That way you can talk about the theme of your book or the spiritual truth or the hard issue and all the knowledge you have beyond what fit in the book. Think about it ahead of time, but don’t worry about it. And don’t ask established writers to endorse your work before you have a contract and a manuscript.
I hope all this helps, and I look forward to meeting many of you in Colorado in a few months!
Gayle will be teaching a continuing session on “Fiction for Women.” Since women are the biggest readers of story, Fiction for Women means any kind of fiction out there. We’ll talk about the mechanics of fiction: character, plot, setting, theme – all the usual stuff. We’ll also talk about what makes story resonate with readers, how to build that emotional tension, and what makes women buy into a story world so she never quite forgets your work.
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